5 comments about Live in Chicago.

1. Though they got no significant airplay - and Beavis & Butthead even proclaimed, "These guys have no future..." Ween are one of the most creative and simply AWESOME live acts of the alternative rock era.
   
   This CD/DVD is all about the musicianship. From sea shanties to '70s rock to twisted nursery rhymes to punk-rock freakouts, these guys give you everything you need. And, on the DVD, the "All of My Love" Led Zeppelin cover is note-perfect.
   
   Buy this for the concert CD and stay for the DVD, and you will get a wonderful musical experience.



2. Concert movies tend to suck, the very fact that it's recorded and you're watching it in your living room breaks with what's happening, and they tend to end up feeling "guh." You can't feel the energy in the room, you can't look where you would normally look (take a glance at a person around you and you can see how they react) so all of that "ambience" is lost.
   
   I used to do the ween website before they did their own, so I'm biased here, but Ween is such a great live band and it totally shows on this DVD. Their craftsmanship is top notch.
   
   I would agree with the other reviewer about the energy level and level of showmanship being lower than a typical ween show, I think the fact that the cameras were present has a lot to do with that.



3. Yeah, maybe the concert is only 3 stars, when compared to other Ween shows (like Live At Stubbs or Live In Toronto), but it's 5 stars compared to any other music concert DVD available. It's a very good Ween concert and includes songs from all of their CD's. The bonus audio CD really adds to the value of this package. Their range as a band is amazing. They skillfully swoop from metal to country to 70's jam rock to cabaret to jangle rock with scary ease. Dean Ween is our generation's Jimi Hendrix. He is THAT good. His solos are like train wrecks crossed with airplane landings. The band's version of Led Zeppelin's "All Of My Love" is a dead-on, perfect replica, and it alone makes this worth purchase. There aren't many bands around today that can equal Ween with live performing talent. A few that are in their realm are Los Lobos, the Mekons, Primal Scream, Wilco, Midnight Oil (they were, at least, until their recent breakup), the Roots, and that's about it. Ween should be selling millions of records. Don't miss out on one of the era's best groups.



4. I've been waiting for a live Ween DVD for a while; I've seen them live many times, and I have all of their albums.
   
   This performance just didn't seem very inspired and didn't have the energy that I've seen live (especially around the Mollusk-era). I have Ween bootlegs on horrible quality VHS that are much more entertaining than this "official" DVD. I guess that's what makes it so disappointing.
   
   Also, the lack of special features - the video for "Transdermal Celebration" looked like a slightly-above-mediocre quality Flash animation... why not put some of the old videos on the disc (Voodoo Lady-that was a good one).
   
   At any rate, they just cancelled their fall tour due to a "long-time problem" one of the members in the group was having (most likely drug-related), so they're supposedly taking time to deal with that.
   
   Perhaps they'll clean up and bring a new energy to their music...
   
   ...or perhaps they'll clean up and start to suck as bad as post-rehab Stone Temple Pilots. Let's hope not.



5. Ween has always been a great live band, and they've shown that since their first official live CD release "Paintin' The Town Brown". Since then there has been a steady supply of live Ween; including the 3 disc set "Live at Stubbs," "Live in Toronto" touring for their country album, and now "Live in Chicago" with a DVD. This DVD is spectacular. Mastered in 5.1 surround and great picture quality. They change the songs so much, refusing to recreate the studio album version of the song. This makes the concert so much fun and instresting to watch. They change instruments, lyrics, add/change sound effects; it's fantastic. And Dean must be one of the greatest guitarists in music today; some of those solos were just sick, such as "I'll be your Johnny on the spot" or "Voodoo lady"; just tearing up every song with some killer lead guitar. Also, a great cover of Led Zeppelin's "All of my love". This is a must own for Ween lovers, and for anyone who appreciates good music and a great live performance.

3 comments about Live & Cuddly.

1. To the extent that a Nomeansno show was exactly like a spiritual revelation, this cd is the resurrection and the life.
   
   While everything about Wrong is right, some of these songs, especially What Slayde Says and Victory, are about the finest versions of these songs I am familiar with. They distort and mess with your expectations. The vocals are totally clear. I gets to shakin'.
   
   When I put this on tonite, I had just forgotten how good it was. It's like a perfect Nomeansno show, and I ain't apologizing for it.



2. What can I say? I've seen these guys live at least 6 or 7 times, and this CD is representative of their best shows. Their interplay with the audience is hilarious. Just check out Andy mocking an obnoxious individual during his "solo"...



3. This is NoMeansNo's album from their Wrong tour. The band is in great form, and the sound quality is excellent for a club gig. as live rock albums go, I would put this up with the Stones' Get Yer Ya-Yas Out. These guys are punk predecessors of many 'alternative' bands out there (Tool and Korn come to mind immediately).

5 comments about 04/6/00 - Manchester Evening News Arena, Manchester, England.

1. This entry from the European Bootleg Series is a real polarizer. People either seem to love it or hate it, which is easy to understand. The show has a caustic, rough edge to it that can be interpreted as sloppiness, etc. There are miscues by the baker's half dozen, but the band sounds like a gunslinger with a bad attitude. The crowd picks up on it,and they love it. The tension and excitement carries into the music; you get the feeling that at any moment Stone Gossard's guitar is going to explode into shrapnel. I think it's great, and I wish I could have been there. 5 stars.



2. Disclaimer: Owner of all 72 official PJ bootlegs. Of all the bootlegs in this series, at least 60 out of the 72 are well worth the money and preserve great Pearl Jam performances on disc. But some shows just had to be below average, and this show in Manchester is one of the worst bootlegs in the series. The problems tonight are a generally careless and sloppy performance, plus many musical errors, and it appears that the band just didn't care what kind of impression they were making. For example, "Evacuation" and "Even Flow" are woefully uncoordinated, with lazy playing by Stone Gossard and Mike McCready that really throws off Matt Cameron's concentration. "Daughter" and "Wishlist" both start poorly and end inconclusively, when the band members simply give up one by one instead of putting together a strong ending. The villain tonight is Stone, who commits many obvious and painful errors that he shouldn't be making on songs he's been playing for ten years. Stone absolutely demolishes the final chorus of "Once," throwing the whole band into a state of confusion. Mike could have saved this show if he felt like it, but he didn't. Mike is barely present for much of the show, and probably spent many songs sitting on a road case and smoking, just standing up once in a while when he got to do a showcase solo. The lowest point is an insultingly lazy take on "Garden" in which everybody sounds like they don't even feel like doing the song. This track barely makes it through to completion. Pearl Jam has really served the fans well by releasing all these bootlegs. Most are great, and a few are below average but forgivable for such a long tour. But this one is definitely near the low end in quality.



3. At best, a great setlist bogged down by a seriously sloppy effort. You might want to skip this one. There are several superb European performances, including Verona, Milan, Katowice II, and Cardiff. However, I guess it all boils down to personal preference. What the heck, a mediocre Pearl Jam show still smashes most of the music out there (raise me a star)!!



4. I bought this CD simply because I was there in the concert hall and it was my first Pearl Jam concert. PJ seldom comes to Malaysia or Singapore, if not never. But I was lucky to be there in Manchester and managed to get a ticket before it sold out.

   About this CD, all the songs are truly magnificent and it has the second best (my opinion) rendition of Black. I find the best to be in a bootleg CD of their concert in Atlanta, GA back in 1995. But most memorable of all, I cried during the concert when Eddie was singing Yellow Ledbetter. It was simply.....beautiful.

   For new fan of PJ, get this album and you'll end up as a fanatic like me! I'm sure you'll love it.




5. There is alot of buzz about the Verona, and Katowice II bootlegs, but Manchester is just as good, if not better. I bought the Verona one, this one, and the Stockholm show. The song selection on all three is great, but this one surpasses all of those that I have heard. Eddie sounds great, and his mood is less moody here than he is reputed. He even is playful. The banter with Stone is great!

   Manchester even has a few tour rarities to listen to. Nothingman, Garden, and Leatherman are all tracks that don't show up often on the tour.

   Eddie's voice seems to peak at this show. Not that he sings badly on any of the others, but he sounds extra good here. The tunes are plays flawlessly by Stone, Jeff, Matt and Mike. This is just a great show. And it appears that others are beginning to think so too, when I bought this the availability was 2-3 days, now it's 1-2 weeks. Get this before it's gone.

2 comments about Got Live (If You Want It).

1. This is a really cool CD containing artist's I am extremely familiar with - Shawn Mullins, Kevin Kinney, R.E.M., Guadalcanal Diary, but also has some up and coming artist's I have now become a fan of - Josh Joplin, Dayroom, Memory-Dean, Soul Miners Daughter, and Deacon Brody. It's a must to check out the Kevin Kinney track, "Chico and Maria" - his story telling is absolutely amazing and mesmorizing, and he is an incredible performer. Also, there is a hidden track by Josh Joplin and Shawn Mullins called "I've Changed" that is worth the price of the CD itself....well, maybe along with the R.E.M. song "Country Feedback", which is a live version of one of my favorite songs from the group. All and All, I love this album because of the diversity - it never grows stale in my CD player!



2. This Cd contains some great bands from Georgia including Shawn Mullins, REM, and Soul Miner's Daughter. All songs on this CD were recorded in Athens, GA and purchasing this CD will benefit a local charity. Buy some home-grown music!

5 comments about 22/6/00 - Fila Forum, Milan, Italy.

1. This is without a doubt the strongest show of the whole European tour back in 2000. The setlist is full of songs that either dont get played very often or arent usually played very well. For instance, Garden and Gods Dice. Garden was played very little throughout the tour(I think maybe 3 times in total) and was usually a mess. In this show its done amazingly well and is really good to hear. The live version found here is such much better than the studio version found on Ten. The band also does an amazing version of Gods Dice, its not perfect though. Some talk about how Mike missed a note. Yes he did, but is almost makes the song better. Its actually cool how the riff sounded in the note he missed because Stone(PJs other guitarist) was still playing his part. Thats what makes these shows special is that sometimes the mistakes make the songs more enjoyable to hear, especially if you hear the studio version hundreds of times. There are also very strong and awesome takes on Of The Girl, Animal, Rival, Not For You, Thin Air, Present Tense, Jeremy(very good version), Go, Nothingman, Sleight of Hand, Rocking in The Free World, and Smile. The band was just awesome that night as well. Perhaps Eddie Vedders best night of that tour. Some of the harder songs to sing like Jeremy, Gods Dice, Sleight of Hand, and Garden are done perfect. I notice every flaw in these bootlegs that I own and I try to find which show has the fewest. This has only a few. Not many at all. Most people wont be able to tell. The show performed in Milan that night was just flat out superb and all around a damn fine killer show. Highly recommended to anyone who may still be on the lookout for these soon to be classic shows.



2. Milan is amazing. Brilliant. Pearl Jam rocks from the beginning untill the end of the show. Really great versions of RVM, Light years, Not for you and RITFW. When you decide to pick up a few of these bootlegs you definitely have to get this one. I love Milan!



3. One of the best loved shows in the European 2000 Tour series, this is also one of the longer performances. Pearl Jam is having a great time here, and it shows. The audience returns the favor by getting into the thick of things from the very beginning, singing along to practically every song. Their singing and cheers become so loud that they raise the distortion level, a problem throughout this series, to new, ear cracking heights. Still, it's easy to see why so many fans love this release. The band is happy, the crowd is in rapture, and the set list is outstanding. This show is also easily available if you know where to look, and you can't beat that!



4. Like a lot of the Euro shows, it takes awhile for the band to get truly comfortable here- despite the proficiency and great vocals on Corduroy and God's Dice, Mike McCready doesn't sound as into it as he usually does. By 'Given to Fly', he wakes up a bit, and provides a riff unlike any I've heard on the other bootlegs. It's not the best performance of the song, but it's unique. For most of the rest of the main set, the entire band is on- Rival and Thin Air, Binaural rarities, are stunning and perfectly executed. The crowd participation on "Small Town", "Present Tense", and "Daughter" makes each of those among the best versions I've heard. Ed flubs a few songs in the encore- Betterman and Insignificance- but makes up for it with Sleight of Hand, Garden, and rocking performances of the acronym songs, RVM, SoLaT, and RitFW. This show just keeps getting better, which is a tall order for a show that clocks in at almost 2 and a half hours. Definitely a highlight of the Euro tour.



5. I had a few free CDs to redeem at Columbia House and this was available as a free selection.
   I like their studio albums, although the latter ones can't seem to grab me that much. They're a bit boring, there's nothing new, nothing exciting on them.
   I did actually promote some of their shows in Eastern Europe in 1996 and 1998. I liked them live. This is the only CD I've heard from all of the concert recordings that they've kept releasing in the last two years. I don't like it.
   The sound quality is poor. Somehow, if you're not there, it doesn't give you back the energy that comes off stage. It seems boring. I can't really explain this. Something was lacking. I think you really have to be a die-hard fanatic to buy any or all of these concert releases. I will give another one or two a try, but I really don't think they're going to be any better. I have serious problems with the mixing and the sound quality compared to other live recordings.

5 comments about Liveage!.

1. If there is one album you need from the Descendents, it's Livage. I wore out this cassette back in highschool ('88-'92), repurchased the cassette in college and have since then picked it up on CD.
   
   This album has such a great vibe. It's fast, upbeat, funny and has tons of great tracks. A much better album than Hallraker.
   
   Do yourself a favor...grab a tall cup of coffee and pop in this disc. You won't be disappointed!



2. This is the record that inspired me to listen to real punk rock. This was the record that in the age of Grunge turned my young, impressionable mind to real rock and roll. No one knows me or cares about my opinion, but I would be remiss if I did not post my feelings about the most important record I ever listened to. Thanks Milo, now go cure cancer.



3. Let me start this review by saying that almost without exception,I hate live albums.For me,live albums are little more than a band's excuse to milk the public for money,not to mention the arrogance of the group in question's assumption that every schmuck with ten extra dollars would go right out and plop it down for their slab o'plastic.Then'there's the feedback,onstage mistakes,and usual stupidity of people in a group.That didn't happen with the Descendents Liveage album.This is as close as one could possibly get to perfection without actually having been there yourself.In fact,in a rare occurrence,the Descendents play almost all of the songs I would have asked them to play had I selected the songs.Yes,a few songs aren't on the album,but MAN,what a setlist."Silly Girl,"perfectly played by Egerton,to me sounds even better live than it did on the original album,and my personal favorites "Clean Sheets"and Pervert"are absolutely excellent.And in this case,the audience participation actually added to the performance,not detracted from it,especially the guy that shouted "I have"during "All-O-Gistics."Well done gents,well done indeed.Folks,buy this album..You will NOT be disappointed.



4. No records had resume enough good the energy of a band live on stage! The Descendents were probably the best punk-rock band to see live! This live CD contain all of their hits with all their live energy, well, that's awesome!



5. Anyone who has ever had the opportunity to see their favorite band(s) perform at the historic First Ave. in Minneapolis, Minnesota probably has a good story to tell about the experience. The Descendants performance could easily be included.
   Bashing out tunes like 'Silly Girl' and 'I'm Not A Loser' stand as a form of template for up-and-coming aggressive punk go-getters with pubic hair counts in the single digits.
   BOTTOM LINE: GREAT PUNK SHOW. A MUST HAVE.

1 comments about Scream in Blue Live.

1. Midnight Oil's only proper live album was recorded at the height of their international fame. A band ignored by oscurity and then by a grunge obsessed America and Europe, Midnight Oil had deserved a far great fame. Legendary in their homeland of Australia, these crusaders of right and wrong knew how to string together heart pounding rock.
   
   And that's what you get on this live recording, great, in your face rock from Down Under.
   
   Not to say that this live album isn't enough, but for someone who never had the fortune of seeing them, even after a visit to Sydney 2000, I feel anyone who want to experience atleast some of the bands live splendour, needs to dig down their pockets and treat themselves to a live DVD as well. Seeing Pete working the stage is such a integral part of the whole Midnight Oil experience.

1 comments about Seattle, WA 15.11.02.

1. I was at this show and must say it was truly Carrie's greatest performance. With the EMP youth choir singing behind Carrie's amazing voice, the band never sounded better. Great songs, great venue and a great artists = an umbelievable disc. Go get yourself one and spend a enchanted evening with Carrie. Much better than the other live disc she put out, the quality is amazing.

No comments about The Best Of & the Rest Of Original Pistols Live.

5 comments about Only Way to Know for Sure.

1. this is a superb live disc,the energy of the band really comes across right from the opening song,the intensity of rollins is fantastic,and his band rips.rollins put`s together a live show that builds to an exhaustive listen,every track seems to be exactly where it needs to be to allow rollins to take the audience on a high energy rollercoaster ride of a lifetime.rollins can work a crowd with the best of them and here you hear that,this must have been a great show to see live,i`m jealous.



2. I wanted to go to this show so bad. A rare 2 night concert of Hank and the boys cranking out 28 crushing tracks. If you were there you were lucky and now you have this cd to remember it by. But if you missed it like myself, this is the way to experience the show. I am hoping that Henry will release this on dvd someday- along with Woodstock 94' I can wish can't I? This album has much of the material you could hope for. There are some tracks that you would like to hear such as- civilized, ghost rider, burned beyond recognition, 1,00 times blind, low self opinion etc.. But the tracks selected make it hard to leave any of those off also. A lot of songs off the last 3 albums dominate the list- as well they should! These songs are new to some(not to real fans), but are fast paced and the band is extremely tight. Having toured for several months prior to this Chicago date has the band firing on all 8 cylinders. The band is very talented at every spot and is never mentioned in todays music scene- what a shame that todays music(and world)is popular for instant gratification and not for substance and true talent.



3. Rollins gives everythiing his all. In interviews, he tells the world that he has no life outside of his work. His books, acting, producing and music are all he does, from waking to sleep. In this amazing live album, you can see that his devotion communicates to his live shows. I've been a fan since the Black Flag days, and his music has only gotten better. The band is amazing, with a bottom end that begs for bigger speakers. There are few breaks in the set, with one blistering song vaulting into the next. This is truly representative of his live shows, as any true fan knows. In the liner notes, Hank says that he takes the band into a basement with the heat on in order to practice for the venues they expect to play, so that they can outlast their audience. I can tell you from experience that it's true.
   Rollins gathers from the history of the band, with good representation from earlier albums. Get Some Go Again and Nice are more prominently featured, as you'd expect, but there are selections from the entire catalogue. The band is tight and professional, obviously having a blast doing the show.
   This stuff is awesome. "Stop Look & Listen" sounds better than the original studio cut. "Starve," long one of my personal favorites, is delivered with enough heat to take off the skin of listeners too close to the speaker. "Hello," another favorite, is even creepier done live.
   There are a few songs that I would have liked on this tour. My favorite cut is "Hero," and I don't know if he's ever done it live. I know he's probably sick of "Liar," but it's a great cut and is a good transition song that gets the audience into a good mood for later, more energetic tracks. Plus, Hank could bring the house down just by including a Black Flag song like "Black Coffee" in one of his shows.
   Overall, one of Punk's best, and maybe one of the best in Rock today, gives you more than you paid for.



4. What can I say about a live recording of a Rollins show? Probably nothing very coherent. I am hesitant to write anything about this album because whatever I write, in all likelihood, will turn into one long rambling giddy rant followed by the fan girl dance. So I will make it short and to the point. There is a reason Henry Rollins is still playing almost twenty years after the disbanding of Black Flag...he allows his music to age right along with him. He does not try to be as angry and intense as he was at twenty-five. His frustration, while always present in his work, takes on the problems of the world. In his twenties his anger seemed much more localized.

   This album is my new favorite Rollins Band CD (until the next one probably). But come on, how can you go wrong with "Marcus Has The Evil In Him" and "Low SO" on the same CD?




5. This is a great live record. I didn't think that a band could be tighter than Henry's other two Rollins Band line ups but I was wrong. These guys are serious. A NO B.S. rock record witout a lot of hype. I'm sorry that I missed the show.